Disrupted Ties, Emerging Conflicts: The Role of Nonnormative Transitions in Adolescent Conflict Networks

• In Event: 20469 - Early Life Course Dynamics

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical period of social development during which peer relationships play a central role in shaping well-being and behavioral outcomes. While extensive research has examined adolescent friendships, negative peer interactions—such as conflicts, aggression, and exclusion—remain understudied. This study investigates how non-normative transitions, including residential mobility and school transfers, influence adolescent conflict networks. Drawing on the life course perspective, we conceptualize mobility as a disruptive transition that reshapes social trajectories by altering access to peer networks and triggering status competition.

We analyze longitudinal data from 12,684 students across 27 schools in New Jersey, collected biannually during the 2012-2013 academic year. Conflict networks were constructed from peer nominations, and dynamic network processes were modeled using Temporal Exponential Random Graph Models (TERGMs). Results indicate that residential mobility significantly increases the likelihood of conflict tie formation, supporting the hypothesis that mobility exacerbates social vulnerability. While school transfers did not directly predict conflict tie formation, mobile students were significantly more likely to form conflict ties with other mobile peers, suggesting that shared outsider status fosters competitive rather than protective peer dynamics. Network structure played a dominant role in shaping conflict ties, with reciprocity, transitivity, and prior conflict ties emerging as the strongest predictors. Additionally, conflicts were more common between students of the same gender, grade, and extracurricular participation, underscoring the interplay between structural and individual factors in adolescent conflict networks.

These findings highlight the disruptive nature of adolescent mobility and its implications for peer conflict. Educational interventions should prioritize targeted social integration programs that mitigate status competition and promote supportive peer relationships among mobile students. This study advances the theoretical understanding of how life course transitions shape peer dynamics and offers actionable insights for fostering more inclusive school environments.

Authors

• Haoyang Zhang, Pennsylvania State University

• Diane H. Felmlee, Pennsylvania State University